


Not enough

by IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow



Category: Motorcity
Genre: All the burners are precious cinnamon rolls, But definitely hints of poly, Chuck is a precious cinnamon roll, Chuck is angsty and Mike isn't having it, Everyone loves Chuck, Fluff, Like not Poly, M/M, Mike is a precious cinnamon roll, Muck - Freeform, Muckles - Freeform, Vague poly!Burners, everyone loves everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 22:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7240312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow/pseuds/IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because even at his best, he feels like the worst. </p><p>And that just won't do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not enough

“Alright Chuckles, let’s go.” It’s the first thing that Chuck hears from Mike that day.

“Wuh?” Is his response.

“I’ve already got everything packed and loaded into Mutt, we’re ready to go.”

“Huh?” Is his follow up question.

Mike rolls his eyes and smiles his “oh silly Chuck, we’re off to do things, and asking questions is pointless” smile. “Come on, Kane hasn’t done anything for three days, and the other gangs don’t have anything against us . . . right now anyway. So I figured we’d go out and have ourselves a day.”

“Oh uh, we’ll I mean I would but I uh, I haaaaaaave larping! Yeah I-I would, but I have larping, ooooohhhh yeah, sorry Mikey, I would if I could but like I said, larping, eheh prior engagements and all that-"

“Chuck” Mike cuts him off with a grin “It’s Wednesday, you never have larping on Wednesday."

“Ohoho, you know that, that’s _greeeeeeaaaaaaaat_ ” Chuck says with a sigh.

“Come on, we’re burning daylight, well, lamp light anyway. It’ll be fun, _and_ I’ll let you control how fast we go.”

“Really?” The hopeful note in his voice didn’t go unnoticed.

“You bet.” Mike Chilton, Chuck thinks, is in possession of an class A weapon in the form of his smile.

“Alright Mikey, you win, so where are we going?”

“Now that” he said with another smirk “Is a surprise.”

Chuck slumps “Of course it is.”

* * *

 

As it turns out, the entire day is a surprise. There’s a small trailer connected to Mutt by the Auto Tow, and whatever is on it is covered by a tarp that Mike refuses to let him look under. Their first stop is Mootown, an incredibly old but still popular ice cream shop. Whilst Mike enjoys a small cone of Cinna-moo-bun ice cream, Chuck enjoys a positively gargantuan cone of cheese cake ice cream.

They sit at a small table outside of the shop, listening to the sounds of the city. Chuck hasn’t quite conceded defeat on the matter of trying to find out whatever is under the tarp, but he’s willing to stop trying while he has ice cream. A part of him can’t help but feel like Mike knows that, and he bows to the tactical mastery that plan implies.

“So Mike, what’s up with this?” Chuck licks away at his ice cream almost viciously while waiting for a response.

“I just felt like doing it” Mike said with a shrug “Is there a reason I shouldn’t hang out with my best friend?” He asks, eyeing Chuck over his ice cream.

Chuck’s blush is visible no matter how hard he tries to hide behind the small mountain of dairy. “It’s just that, well I mean, I’m not-“

“Not what?”

“I’ve never really been the kind of guy you buy ice cream for.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mikes eyes have zeroed in on him with familiar focus. It’s the kind of look reserved for missions, old cars, and Problems with a capital P. It’s absolutely pointless to try to get him to leave it alone, but he has to try anyway.

“I-it’s nothing Mikey.”

“No, go on Chuck, I want to know what you mean.”                 

“I- I don’t- It’s just-” A heavy sigh escapes him “I’m not friend material Mike okay? I LARP and I scream, and I’m scared of a lot of stuff, like _a lot_. I’m just . . . _not someone you want as a friend_.”

“Well that’s not true.”

“What?” The simple statement is enough to break Chuck out of his downward spiral.

“I said that’s not true, you’re a great friend.”

“But I-”

“LARP, and scream, and are scared of a lot of stuff, like _a lot_ of stuff, _I know_. And so does Julie, and Texas and Dutch and Roth and Jacob. We all know Chuck, and we all love you, because none of that stuff matters.”

Chuck isn’t quite sure what’s happening, but he feels a strange feeling in his chest. It isn’t the cold or constricting feeling that he has years of experience with. Instead it’s _warm_ and _soft_. Before he can puzzle out what it is though, Mike starts talking again. “We love you Chuck, you know that, don’t you?”

“I-I don’t-” And then his words get cut off because Mike is hugging him, and that warm and soft feeling is back, but it's about a million times stronger.

“It’s okay if you don’t” Mike mumbles in his ear, and a flash of heat creeps down his neck, because Mike is breathing right into his ear and- “Because that’s what today is about Chuckles, we love you, and we’re going to make sure you know it.”

“Mikey I-” Is as far as he gets before something cold and wet lands on his lap. He looks down belatedly and distantly mourns the loss of ice cream.

“Oh whoops, I’ll go get some napkins, be right back.” Mike says before walking back into the store. Chuck sits there, ice cream clutched loosely in his hand, and tries his best not to smear his face and hair with the melted treat when he wipes away a few tears.

* * *

 

After Mootown they take a little trip to a rare parts store. The owner, Benny, gifts Chuck with an XRS-420 and Chuck can barely contain his glee. He tries to decline, but Benny insists.

“Do you know how often you Burners have saved my bacon _and_ my store? It’s the least I can do.”

“See Chuck” Mike says as the climb back into Mutt, item in hand “People like you.”

Chuck just blushes in response, lightly whacking Mike in the arm with a stuttered “M-mikey stop it.”

Mike's smile could’ve lit Motorcity for days.

After that they head over to GameCube3, for the HexalSmash 7 tournament wherein Chuck utterly dominates the competition and walks away with a new VidConsole. Mutt is by this point getting rather full, and Chuck is about to ask if Mike has anything else planned, when a screen pops into existence next to Mike. Julie smiles at the duo from her window “Mike, it’s time” she says with a mysterious smirk.

“Alright, thanks Jules.”

“No problem” She’s practically beaming when she looks at Chuck “Hey Chuck, hope you’re having fun.”

“Oh I’m having a blast” Chuck replies honestly “But uh, time for _what_ exactly?”

Julie just continues to smile like the cat her car is named after, and the window vanishes.

“Time for what?” He asks Mike.

Mike just smiles.

“Let me guess, it’s a surprise.”

* * *

 

To Chucks utter shock, it turns out that their final destination isn’t anywhere _in_ Motorcity, its outside. He can’t count the number of times he’s been outside of Motorcity on one hand because he’s never even been. The outside is a sparse wasteland, or at least it’s supposed to be. But outside is where they’re going, and so Chuck bites his tongue.

The trip is far shorter than it should be, and soon enough they’re passing through the arches that lead out of Motorcity. The first thing he sees is yellow. Lots and lots and _lots_ of yellow. It isn’t sandy like he’s always imagined it to be. Instead it’s flat scrubland. There are actual patches of green scattered about, which is surprising. To hear Kane talk about it, the outside world was nothing but ash and sand. But then, that was Kane, and a world with greenery outside of his carefully controlled walls wasn’t something the man would be keen on advertising.

They continue to drive, past miles and miles and miles of yellow. The sun had started to set by the time they’d left Motorcity, and the sky is losing the last vestiges of red and orange when they stop. It takes Chuck a moment to realize it, but the area that Mutt has stopped in isn’t yellow, but green. As he exits the car, the air in front of them flickers and shimmers for a moment, and then the rest of the burners are standing there.

“Hey guys” Julie says with a wave.

“Bu-bu-what? What are you guys doing here? What about Kane, or the Duke or-”

“Relax Chuck, we took care of everything, Motorcity can take care of itself for one day anyway. Besides, Jacob is on watch.” Mike pats him on the shoulder.

“Yeah besides, Texas put a bunch of Texas cut outs around the city, so nobody’s gonna mess with it. Otherwise I’ll be all whoooooo, kachaw, pew pew pew” Texas supplied.

“And we have those new automated defense lasers set up all over town, so relax man, everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Alright if you guys say so, so what, um, is this?”

‘This’ being the setup of what was definitely a picnic. Atop a little hill that had been hidden by the hologram was a little basket set on a checkered blanket with a small cooler sitting next to it.

“Oh we just thought it’d be a cool thing to do, have a group picnic.” Julie offers.

“But that basket can’t possibly hold enough food for-”

“Oh would you look at that, I have to be back at KaneCo soon for a seminar on being a proper intern, guess you’ll have to have fun without me, **bye**!” The words come out in one breath and before Chuck can fully process it Julie's driving away.

“Even without Julie, there still isn’t-”

“Oh wow, look at the time” Dutch says, looking at his nonexistent watch “I have to go meet up with Tennie. Texas, don’t you have something you have to do too?”

“Nah” Texas says, “Texas doesn’t have anything to do.”

“Oh but I think you do, _remember_?” Dutch asks through clenched teeth.

“Hmm, nope, Texas has nothing to do.”

“ _Oh yes you do_ ” Dutch said giving Texas a look.

“Nah man I’m telling you, Texas doesn’t have-”

“There’s a new Getaway Gang movie out.”

“What! Aww man I gotta go see this, later Mike, later Chuck.” Without another word, but with several more onomatopoeia such as kwa, hacha, katoo, and bwadada, Texas gets into Stronghorn and tears away.

"Well, see ya later” Dutch says before clambering into Whiptail. As the last of the Burners drives away, Chuck looks up at the sky.

“It’s beautiful” He says to Mike. When he gets no response, he realizes that Mike is no longer standing next to him. The brown haired Burner has moved to the trailer behind Mutt and has grabbed it by its handle. Moving the floating trailer out from behind Mutt, he brings it over to Chuck.

“So, are you finally gonna tell me what that thing is?” Chuck asks.

“Why tell you when I can just show you?” Mike retorts, whipping the tarp aside as dramatically as possible.

“Is that a telescope?”

“Why yes, yes it is” Mike says with aplomb, lifting the object in question and setting it on the hill.

“But why?” He asks as he moves to examine it.

“Well, I heard from Dutch that you really liked the Cablers telescope, even though it was meant for star gazing. I figured you might want to use one for its original purpose.

“And the food?”

“I figured you’d be hungry by now.”

“Mikey, this is all great and stuff but _why_?”

When he looks back up from the lens, he finds Mike standing next to him. Flailing in shock, he almost falls over before Mike grabs him. As he hoists him up, Mike gives him a serious look. “Because Chuckles, I meant what I said earlier, we love you, and I’m going to keep telling you that until you get it.”

“Mikey” Chucks blush could’ve been seen from space.

“Now come on.” Mike says with a tug, guiding the blushing blonde to the picnic “I _know_ you’re hungry by now.” Chucks stomach rumbles in agreement. It was only when they settled down onto the blanket that Chuck realizes that Mike is still holding his hand. Instead of commenting on it though, Mike simply lets go and opens the basket.

After a meal composed of sandwiches, of which Chuck ate far more than someone his size should’ve been able to, they move over to the telescope. By now the sky has turned midnight blue, and the stars have emerged to glitter in the shadows.

“I’ve never seen so many stars, heck, I’ve never really _seen_ stars, not real ones.”

“It’s beautiful” Mike agrees.

“I used to be really into astronomy you know? I had entire folders dedicated to star charts and constellations. Let’s see, oh there, do you see that little section right there? The one that looks like it ends in two points? That’s Taurus, the bull, Texas’d love that one. Oh and that one there is Andromeda, oh and Aries, and Auriga! There’s Cetus the whale, and Pisces the fish! And that there is Triangulum the . . . well triangle. Oh and that one is Sculptor the. . . well the sculptor.”

“Wow, you really know your stuff don’t you?”

“What can I say, I’m a total nerd.”

“Yeah, but you’re our nerd.”

Chuck doesn't respond, instead he leans back in to look through the telescope. “Here, give me a minute, let me juuuuuuussssssttttt, ahah there it is, Mikey take a look it’s Camelopardalis, the giraffe, usually kinda hard to see with the naked eye.” When he looks back up from the telescope he finds Mike looking at him strangely.

“What?”

“Hmm” Mike says snapping out of his daze “Oh nothing, what’s this about a giraffe?” Laying down on the blanket, he gives Chuck the go ahead. The blonde, excitement evident on his face, lays down next to his friend.

And Chuck tells him. He tells him the story of Cassiopeia, and Cetus and Aries and Perseus. And the entire time Chuck speaks, Mike continues to stare up at the sky and the stars, a thoughtful expression on his face. When Chuck's done, he heaves a sigh.

“Mikey?”

“Yeah?”

“Today was nice, like really nice, probably the best day I’ve ever had, so I just- I mean, well, thank you.”

“You’re welcome Chuckles” Mike says, and for the first time in quite a while his gaze shifts from the stars. “But there’s a problem.” Mike sits up, and Chuck quickly follows him.

“Oh, what is it?” He asks, stomach churning.

“Well you see, one of the reasons I brought you out here was so that I could tell you everything I liked about you, and I was going to use the stars to count them off and that’s the problem is.”

Chuck slumps “Too many stars?”

Mike shakes his head “No” he says, turning towards Chuck. The blonde’s face shifts into an expression of confusion as Mike leans in. “Not enough.” He says, and then he leans in further, and then not so suddenly at all he's kissing Chuck. If the hug had been a bonfire, the kiss was a supernova.

“Chuck?” Mike asks when they break contact.

“Yeah?” He asks in a shuddering breath.

“Do you get it now?”

Chuck nods shakily “I-I think so but-”

“But what?”

“I think you could make it a little clearer.”

Mike grins at him “No problem Chuckles, no problem at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Motorcity, and I will never not love Motorcity, and even though I love you Disney, kindly remove the ironclad mouse claws you have dug into this property unless you're going to do something with it. Anyway Motorcity needs more fic, like seriously, NEEDS it. I blame the awesomely amazing SplickedyHat's fics for this, as they inspired me to get back into this fandom.
> 
> Writing Texas is haaaaaaarrrrrrdddddd. For me anyway.
> 
> Those are all real constellations that I used. Are they all visible from Detroit? Iunno. Are they all even visible at the same time? Iunno. Did I do any research on the timing of constellations? Yes, but it's been a pretty long time since I did so.


End file.
